Man with machete stands off Santa Barbara SWAT team for eight hours

January 10, 2014

A SWAT team standoff with a Santa Barbara man in possession of a machete lasted more than eight hours Wednesday night and Thursday morning. [KSBY]

Investigators obtained a search warrant Wednesday for the home of a 39-year-old man who is accused of felony battery, brandishing a firearm and animal cruelty.

The SWAT team and crisis negotiators arrived at the suspect’s house at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday. The suspect did not surrender, barricading himself inside the home until early Thursday morning.

Around 11 p.m. Wednesday, the SWAT team deployed tear gas into the home on the 800 block of Bath Street. About an hour later, the team entered the house and confronted the suspect, who was holding a machete.

SWAT team members shot the man with a less than lethal shotgun round, but the suspect retreated into the back of the house and barricaded himself again.

The crisis negotiations team then sent a phone into the home and talked with the suspect until he surrendered at around 2:25 a.m. Thursday.

I pray n remain hopeful he truly gets the proper help he needs and deserves!”Probably” mentally ill. Let me clarify He Is Battling a mental illness and a severe tramatic brain injury also known as T.B.I. but the criminal justice system only sees with the eyes of Judgement and Violent Criminal instead of look at the root and source of the problem to try n alleviate over crowded prisons lets just add mor and release the convicted murders and lifers. I will Stand By My Husband and Instead of pointing fingers I will pick up the pieces of the damage left for our family to clean up by this ordeal (Physically, Emotionally and Financially) while my husbands health deteriorates sitting in a jail cell without proper mental health care. May the Peace of God continue to pour Love Grace and Peace in all our hearts specifically our Daughters.

Was it a fully automatic assault machete; you know, the kind with black plastic handles, or just a plain old semi-auto machete / wooden handle? The government and media have taught me that guns make people dangerous, and now you’re telling me that people can be dangerous with knives too? This is just outrageous; we need to ban knives! I’m starting a petition to only allow spoons from now on – if you have a permit for one that is.

Gun rant aside, props to SB SWAT for not giving this guy lead poisoning. I hope this [probably] mentally ill person can get the help he needs now.

These guys went well above and beyond in an effort to save this mans life! Wow! He wouldn’t have made out so well in some other areas of the US and would certainly be deceased had he tried this in some third world countrys.

I pray n remain hopeful he truly gets the proper help he needs and deserves!”Probably” mentally ill. Let me clarify He Is Battling a mental illness and a severe traumatic brain injury also known as T.B.I. but the criminal justice system only sees with the eyes of Judgement and Violent Criminal instead of looking at the root and source of the problem to try n alleviate over crowded prisons. lets just add more to the system and release the convicted murders and lifers.
I will Stand By My Husband and the man I married a loving kind generous and devoted father and husband. Instead of pointing fingers I will continue pick up the pieces of the damage left for our family to clean up by this ordeal (Physically, Emotionally and Financially) while my husbands health deteriorates sitting in a jail cell without proper mental health care and trust in Gods Will.

Thru this all The Lord has overflowed my Daughters and I with Great Love Generosity And Support from our Christian Community and Churches in our city. I continue to Pray that the Grace, Love and Peace of God continue to Bless each one of us and for his Protection specifically our daughters.